


The Nexus

by Melethril



Series: Manual Labor [5]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Gen, Jarvis is the best, POV Third Person, Protective Jarvis (Iron Man movies), RIP JARVIS, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony does too, i miss you, outsider's point of view
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 10:38:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8010373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melethril/pseuds/Melethril
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The trap was set, the prey was caught and Stark pulled in the net. Foreign code appeared on the screen, not looking like anything she had ever seen. They gasped.<br/>“Beautiful!” This code was flawless.<br/>All of a sudden, Stark’s hands halted.<br/>“It can’t be…” he whispered. The hacker used that one second of hesitation and took hold off the nuclear codes; or rather started to build a firewall around them, quicker than anything she had ever seen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Nexus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KatieTaylor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatieTaylor/gifts).



> Ever thought about how Tony reacted when he found JARVIS again?
> 
> I have.
> 
> Part of the Manual Labor Series because Tony is just that good.

**The Nexus**

 

The whole building was in uproar. The head of the institute, Professor Kramer, had announced that Tony Stark would arrive in ten minutes and everyone hurried to clean up their desks, themselves, their project hoping that they would have ten seconds with the world-famous billionaire genius. Many would kill to get a job at Stark Industries. It was said that what you learned under Stark’s informatics team – or Stark himself – did not only lead to the best-paying jobs, but would let you come in contact with the world’s best tech.

There was a buzz when Tony Stark entered, shaking hands left and right; the world’s leader in computer sciences and engineering was honoring them with their presence. He was like a God! Eveline stayed in the background. She was very low on the pecking order in this place and, though she knew her talent would ultimately help her rise in the ranks, it would take a few more years of very hard work. There was no need to piss off her superiors.

Professor Kramer greeted him with a real smile (unlike the smiles he usually gave important politicians), “Tony, it’s good to have you here after so long; you’ve got to visit more often.”

“Paul, well, you know me, always busy,” the other man practically danced as he took his last steps towards her boss (who, she was pretty sure, did not even know her name).

They hugged briefly, and Eveline felt everyone else’s surprise. They had not known that the professor was so close to Stark.

“This man is a genius,” said Stark loud enough so that everyone could hear him. “We went to MIT together, and he aced all of his classes. More importantly, he is creative with endless imagination to this day. Unfortunately, he was ambitious and decided to work at the Nexus instead of becoming SI’s head for R&D. He played a major part in making the Nexus one of the world’s leading CSE facilities.”

That surprised quite a few; they knew he had been to MIT, but most assumed that Kramer had acquired his job through political games rather than skill. After all, the man was stuck in administration all day. They hardly ever saw him at the Core.

The professor smiled fondly, “Ladies and gentlemen, I learned more from this man than all professors at MIT together. He was fourteen years old while I was working on my doctoral thesis. Together with his best friend, he helped me survive the most trying time of my life. I am proud to call Tony Stark my friend.”

Stark looked… stricken for a second, but he hid it quickly by cooing at his friend; they did not overhear the rest of their conversation.

“Do you want me to go with you into the Core?” asked Professor Kramer.

“I was checking your log on my way here-“ “Tony, you should not even be able to crack the first firewall-“ “And I thought I would grab the first people to log onto the system this morning because they deserve a little break. That would be Nils Jorgensen, Anna Oberhauser and Eveline Clarke.”

The ‘Three Musketeers’, as they were jokingly called by their division, were usually the first employees coming to work and the last to leave with a strict ‘one for all – all for one’ philosophy. Nils was an angel; a truly brilliant mind when it came to bridge different codes, but he was hopelessly overwhelmed by all the work he was swamped with on a daily basis that often involved original coding. That was Anna’s expertise. Eveline was very good at both, but she could take apart a computer and put it back together in record-time; she was not an engineer, but hardware was her world, and she loved it. With these kinds of specialties, they wonderfully complemented each other and they did their best to get through the more trying phases of their studies together.

Of course, Tony Stark did not know any of this. He had simply randomly picked a few people. Eveline was both elated and horrified; not (only) because she would be around Tony Stark but because she could already feel the envy from everybody else. That fear was silenced a little once Stark started talking to people individually mentioning how he had enjoyed their publications, or their contribution to new technology. He even took a little time to hear about ideas; and in one case, helped solve a problem they had had for months.

They were all a little bit in love with Tony Stark by the time they disappeared into the Core. Stark was less flamboyant as soon as the door closed and explained to Kramer that the irregularities they had been experiencing were due to a malicious artificial intelligence named ‘Ultron’; and that he was looking for a hacker who had taken the role of protecting the nuclear access codes.

The thought was scary; especially once Stark went into detail about this creature. Once Kramer asked where Ultron had come from, Stark looked away.

“He was supposed to be something else. He should have never come online. He was not ready. I…” his voice failed him, the sound that escaped him was near-silent and reminded Eveline of someone in terrible pain.

Kramer put a hand on Stark’s shoulder and said, “Well, if anyone can stop him, I know it’s you.”

Their boss left them before the entered the inner part of the Core and Stark was talking in detail about how the Core worked; it was quite amazing – she had not known just how much Stark Industries had contributed to the Nexus. It was not common knowledge. Stark went out of his way to make them feel included, but he was still larger than life, so only Anna was brave enough to ask questions; he proceeded to talk about hackers and needles in haystacks. Eveline had seen some of the fastest computer geeks on Earth, but the speed with which Stark accessed nuclear codes was staggering. The counter attack came swift, and Stark smiled.

“You are good, my dear, but not as good as I am. Come here, kitty, kitty, kitty! Come to papa…” he muttered as he was practically dancing around the code, not even slowing down as he spoke. He caressed the keys rather than punched them; it was one of the most elegant things she had ever seen; also one of the most horrifying as nuclear code after nuclear code started to download. The information started to flicker and Stark smiled.

“There you are.”

The trap was set, the prey was caught and Stark pulled in the net. Foreign code appeared on the screen, not looking like anything Eveline had ever seen. Anna and Nils gasped.

“Beautiful,” whispered Anna; as she saw this perfectly flawless code.

All of a sudden, Stark’s hands halted.

“It can’t be…” he whispered. The hacker used that one second of hesitation and took hold off the nuclear codes; or rather started to build a firewall around them, quicker than Eveline could watch.

“Oh no, you don’t.”

If Stark was working quickly before, he was working at lightening speed now. It was a one-minute struggle, until he got hold off the foreign code.

Instead of picking it apart, he started putting it together.

“Please, let me be right, please, let me be right…” Stark muttered as he manipulated the code into something… almost alien; perfect and beautiful. Was this Ultron?

A breathless minute later and Stark stopped. The code on the screen was still.

“JARVIS, you there?” Stark’s voice was hesitant and quiet, but it echoed in the stillness of the Core.

 _“For you, sir, always_ ,” said a distinctly British voice. Eveline, Nils and Anna reeled back; was that an artificial intelligence?

Stark gasped, and Eveline saw tears in his eyes; his facial expression was distorted as if he desperately tried not to cry.

“God, JARVIS, I’m so sorry…” his voice was shaking. “I… It’s good to hear you, buddy.”

“Sir, could you update me on what happened after Mr. Odin’s Mjölnir-induced energy spike activated the artificial intelligence trapped within Loki’s scepter? It assimilated the ideas of the Ultron program but not its entirety. I think it… attacked me.”

Stark’s breath caught in his throat, “Yes, he did. Ultron… I’m sorry, JARVIS. Did it hurt?”

“I have no memory of it, sir; I would not call the entity ‘Ultron’ as it has little to do with your idea. It is in pain and confused…”

“He is trying to destroy the world. He wants to become more… I…” Stark grabbed his cellphone and wiped it over the panel currently containing ‘JARVIS’. To Anna’s horror, the code was suddenly gone. Instead, a golden 3D holographic representation of the code appeared over Stark’s phone.

By God, she wanted to marry that phone! This was incredible!

She belatedly heard Stark talk about a body for Ultron.

“Sir, I have an idea. Ultron – is not off this world; he does not understand how it is connected. I do; if it is not too much to ask, I would like to take up on an old offer of yours… Not permanently, but I think I could assist you best if I was given a temporary form.”

Stark looked at the phone as if wanted to marry it, too; or kiss it.

“What would I do without you, JARVIS?” whispered the engineer, smiling softly.

“Given your self-destructive tendencies, I would give you approximately three months,” was the distinctly sarcastic reply.

An artificial intelligence with character and snark? How on Earth had Stark created _that_? Or maybe, this was not Stark’s creation at all. Maybe, this was some alien, super-ahead-of-their-time-and-technology butler given to Stark as an assistant. She would love to have one as well.

Stark laughed, a bit hysterically, but also happily. His right thumb unconsciously caressed the phone, “I can’t wait to hug you for real,” he smiled gently before he sobered; his face carefully void if all emotions. “Keep going, JARVIS, protect the codes, we’re going home!”

“As you wish, sir,” replied the AI.

Stark turned around and left; not a word addressed to them.

“Well,” said Anna. “That was…”

They never talked about this; not even when others asked. Nobody would believe them anyway. They did not talker about it among each other. It seemed… too personal.

 

* * *

 

Weeks later, after Sokovia, they received a letter.

 

_Dear Musketeers (has anybody ever told you that this is a silly nickname?),_

 

_Thank you for keeping me company in the Core. Next time, you will have to show me what you can do and not just watch me do things._

_JARVIS has died (I thought you may wish to know), but I think he is proud to have become a part of something else._

_Thank you for your silence. If you need my help, call FRIDAY._

 

_Tony Stark_

 

Enclosed was a 20-digit number, a brand-new StarkPhone and Computer with an extra-note stating that these items were still in production and would come out next year, and an original copy of _Les Trois Mousquetaires_.

When they went out for drinks that night, they rose their glasses for JARVIS.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you have wishes or prompts. I'm currently in a one-shot phase, so I'm open for ficlet ideas.
> 
> Gifted to my friend KatieTaylor. No specific reason, hon, just a thank you for our wonderful email conversations.


End file.
